Saturday, April 18, 2009

Novak was playing well in the first set. He had four chances to break, in the second and fourth game, but didn’t use them. The 21-year old lost his momentum in the ninth game. His service was giving him trouble, he made three double faults and several unforced errors. Wawrinka used his fourth break point to go 5-4 up and then closed the set 6-4.

Djokovic raised the level of his game in the second set. He won five games in a row breaking his opponent’s service twice, and easily took the set 6-1. World number three was broken in the second game of the third set, but he broke back immediately and then held to equalise the result. The Serb was impressive in the rest of the match. He made two more breaks and won the set 6-3. Novak hit 15 winners to Wawrinka’s 24, and made 32 unforced errors to his opponent’s 58. Nole converted 5 of his 14 break points, while the Swiss capitalised on 2 of his 6 chances for break. Nole went one step further than last year, and he'll get additional 240 ATP points and €203,000.In Sunday’s final Djokovic will try to win his 5th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, and 13th career trophy. His opponent will be world no.1 Rafael Nadal who beat no.4 seed Andy Murray 6-2 7-6(4) in the second semifinal match.Djokovic and Nadal have met 15 times, the Spaniard leads 11-4.SOURCE:Novak Djokovic Official WebSite (read more)

After traveling to Hawaii, Los Angeles and New York in recent days, Rihanna has made her way back to her native Barbados just days before Chris Brown is going to be arraigned on Monday in connection with the alleged altercation between them in February."She's home," Rihanna's father Ronald Fenty told People.com after she was photographed at the island's international airport. "She is in good spirits. And she sounds great." The singer is back home to help celebrate her grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary, according to Usmagazine.com.

"Yeah [she's back]," Fenty told Us. "She just got in a couple hours ago. I will see her tomorrow," adding the he and his superstar daughter will "probably do lunch" while she's home for the weekend. "Of course, I'm happy to have her home. Things are good with her. She is doing really, really well. She's back to herself again."

Although she isn't required to attend Brown's arraignment on Monday, her lawyer Donald Etra said, "She will do everything that the law requires her to do." Despite briefly reconciling in Miami a few weeks after the incident, sources tell People that the singers "are still taking a mutually decided-on break. ... It's been more than two weeks since they were last together in L.A."

On Monday, Brown is expected to enter a plea on two felony counts. He is currently free on $50,000 bail after turning himself in during the Grammy Awards. If convicted, he could face a sentence ranging from probation to nearly five years in state prison.

After a Fox News report that claimed Rihanna was not cooperating with the investigation into her alleged altercation with Chris Brown and "wants the whole thing" to go away, the Los Angeles County District Attorney and Rihanna's lawyer said Monday (March 30) that the report is untrue, according to UsMagazine.com.

"We deal with her attorney, who says she is a cooperating victim," Los Angeles County DA spokesperson Sandi Gibbons told the site.

Rihanna's lawyer, Donald Etra, told the site Monday: "She will do everything that the law requires her to do ... nothing has changed."Etra told MTV News earlier this month, "At this point, she is willing to do anything that the law requires her to do. ... If subpoenaed, she will testify." Asked to confirm reports that the couple have reunited since the alleged February 8 incident, Etra said now is "neither the time nor the place to discuss their relationship." However, Diddy essentially confirmed the reunion on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" earlier this month, explaining that he'd let the couple stay at his Miami home.

Loyola Law School professor Stan Goldman said the DA's case could be jeopardized if Rihanna refuses to testify because her statements to police can only be used against him if she agrees to testify. Brown did not enter a plea at his arraignment on March 5, where his lawyer, Mark Geragos, asked for a continuance in the case, postponing the singer's arraignment until April 6.

Friday, April 3, 2009

World number three Novak Djokovic rallied from a one-set deficit to defeat second-seeded Roger Federer 3-6 6-2 6-3 in 1 hour and 46 minutes for a place in the finals of the Sony Ericsson Open (Miami).

Federer broke Novak’s service in the fourth and the sixth game of the first set for 5-1 lead. Nole managed to break back once in the seventh game and then held for 5-3, but the Swiss closed the set 6-3.

Nole earned two break points in the second game of the second set and converted the first for 2-0 advantage. He faced scare in the next, but held to increase his lead to 3-0. The 21-year old was broken in the fifth game, but he broke back immediately in a long game using his fifth break chance for 4-2. Federer got broken again in the eighth game and Djokovic took the set 6-2. The best Serbian tennis player continued in the same rhythm in the third set. He was 4-0 up with two breaks. Federer was making a lot of unforced errors. World no.2 managed to break Novak’s service in the fifth game and then held for 4-2. It looked like that might be a turnaround, but Djokovic didn’t let the match slip out of his hands and he held to love in the seventh game for 5-2. There were no breaks til the end and Nole served out the match, 6-3.

This was Novak’s third win in ten matches vs Federer.

Both Djokovic and Federer served 4 aces and made 4 double faults.Novak hit 20 winners to Federer’s 22, and made 30 unforced errors to Roger’s 47.The Serb capitalised on 6 of his 10 chances for break, while the Swiss converted 4 of his 6 break points.

Djokovic’s opponent in the finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Miami will be Andy Murray (GBR, 4) who defeated Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG, 6) in three sets. Novak will try to win his fifth Masters title and to repeat the success from 2007 when he lifted the trophy after defeating Guillermo Canas in the finals.SOURCE:Novak Djokovic Official WebSite (read more)